In this space, on March 21, under the headline, “Was the CDB fair to Dr Leon?” issues relating to the decision by a committee of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to send the institution’s president, Hyginus “Gene” Leon on administrative leave “until April,” were raised.
We are now in the latter half of April, and there has been absolutely no word from the CDB on the outcome of this matter. At some point, the independent administrative investigation into the whistleblower complaints lodged against Dr Leon will be completed.
And what has gone on behind closed doors will be fully revealed.
I believe the way in which the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) handled the whistleblower complaint, and the eventual dismissal, of its former president Mauricio Claver-Carone should inform both the process and the outcome of the CDB investigation.
The investigation into Claver-Carone started after an anonymous email was sent to the board of directors and the bank’s ethics officer at the beginning of April 2022, according to a Reuters report on April 7, 2022.
The anonymous email accused Claver-Carone of carrying out a relationship with a senior strategist who reported to him, according to the reporting by the news agency.
On April 7, the IDB’s directors met and decided to recommend the hiring of an independent law firm to investigate the allegations.
The IDB’s board of governors approved the recommendation to hire the independent law firm on April 14, 2022. As a result of that decision by the IDB’s board of directors, the law firm of Davis Polk was retained to conduct the investigation.
The report of the Davis Polk report was sent to the bank’s 14 executive directors on September 19. After four days of deliberations, on September 22, the IDB’s board of directors voted to recommend Claver-Carone’s dismissal to the institution’s board of governors.
As the IDB’s most senior body, its board of governors deliberated on the recommendations of the institution’s board of directors almost immediately.
By September 26, through a process of voting, the IDB’s board of governors accepted the recommendation of the directors that Claver-Carone should be dismissed immediately.
The IDB’s board of governors represents the institution’s 48 member nations, which include 16 European nations, South Korea, China and Japan as well as those in the Americas.
The point here is that throughout the process of investigation into the former IDB president, the institution’s board of directors and its board of governors seemed to be instrumental in the decision-making process.
The IDB’s directors recommended the appointment of an independent, external law firm; the governors approved the appointment of the law firm.
The body’s directors received the report of the law firm and based on their reading of it, recommended dismissal. The IDB governors received the recommendation of the directors, deliberated on all of the evidence before it and then voted to dismiss.
Like the IDB, the CDB has a board of directors that deals with the day-to-day operations of the regional institution.
(See box at right)
With regard to the CDB’s handling of the administrative investigation into Dr Leon, the following is apparent:
• ↓It is unclear whether the CDB’s full board of directors was ever involved in the decision by the institution to send Dr Leon on administrative leave;
• ↓It is unclear whether the institution’s board of directors was involved in the decision to hire the Washington DC law firm of Arnold & Porter; but
• ↓There is no doubt that the CDB’s board of governors was NOT involved in either the decision to send the president on administrative leave or the decision to hire Arnold & Porter.
In fact, the subject of a February 1, 2024 letter from Arnold & Porter, which represents the CDB, is “Internal actions of the Caribbean Development Bank.”
The Arnold & Porter letter was signed by David Reis and was addressed to Dr Terrance Drew, who as the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, is the current chair of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission. St Kitts and Nevis is, of course, a CDB member country.
Writing on behalf of the prime ministers of the OECS, Dr Drew addressed a letter on January 22, 2024, to the current chairman of the CDB board of governors, Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, on the issue, according to a Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) report on Monday.
Quoting informed sources, CMC reported that Dr Drew raised issues and concerns following the actions taken by the Oversight and Assurance Committee (OAC) of the board of directors.
He noted specifically that the OAC was an advisory committee of the Board, according to section 2 of the OAC Revised Terms of Reference, CMC reported.
The St Kitts prime minister, writing on behalf of his colleagues, pointed out that section 12 –subsections 12.01 and 12.02 (referencing the code of conduct of the board of directors) in fact limits the role of the OAC to making recommendations to the board of directors.
Instead of Mr Hussen writing to Prime Minister Drew himself (or picking up the phone and calling), the Canadian minister instructed the American law firm to respond on his behalf.
The last paragraph of that letter reads: “This is an internal Bank matter and is not within the jurisdiction of the OECS Commission.
“Therefore, to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the investigation, we recommend you cease from commenting on this matter publicly and from contacting the board of governors regarding the investigation.”
Imagine that! The current chairman of the CDB board of governors telling an OECS prime minister that the investigation into sending on administrative leave of the CDB president “is not within the jurisdiction of the OECS Commission,” which is the executive organ of the OECS.
Does Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condone such a disrespectful and dismissive letter from his Cabinet colleague addressed to a fellow Commonwealth prime minister?
Should Mr Hussen remain as the CDB chair?
Does T&T Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, have an opinion on who leads a regional institution as important as the CDB?